Introduction: Parents play a crucial role in improving eating problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and collaborating with professionals through a parent education program can enhance their child's development and health.
Objectives: After developing a parent education program to improve eating problems in children with ASD, this study aimed to verify its effectiveness.
Methods: The eating parent education program consisted of four weekly 45-minute one-on-one face-to-face sessions over four weeks, covering autism and eating problems, sensory-based and behavior-based eating interventions, and strategies for modifying mealtime habits and the environment. Parents received educational materials, personalized assignments, and feedback to achieve their child's specific goals. The effectiveness of the program was assessed using COPM, SEPS, BAMBI, 3-day food diary, mealtime duration, parental stress questionnaire, and a satisfaction survey. Descriptive statistics analyzed demographics and parental satisfaction, while the Wilcoxon signed-rank test assessed program effectiveness.
Results: All eight participating mothers were in their 30s to 40s, and the children with ASD had a mean age of 4.38 years, with 87.5% classified as mild to moderate and 12.5% as moderate to severe. The program had positive effects on ASD children, including achieving eating goals, addressing sensory- and behavior-related eating issues, increasing food variety and intake, and reducing mealtime duration. Additionally, parental stress decreased, and parents showed high program satisfaction.
Conclusion: The program is expected to provide a systematic, evidence-based intervention for eating problems in ASD children and serve as a practical tool for eating therapy centers to enhance parent communication and home-based interventions.